Environment, Peace and Conflict Research: The Need for Constructive Dialogue

Jan 17, 2023 | Tobias Ide
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Environmental factors play an increasingly important role for the dynamics of peace and conflict. There is widespread agreement that climate change is a risk multiplier for armed violence, even though other conflict drivers are often more important. Analysts are discussing whether unusually severe droughts lead to the onset or intensification of political instability, for instance in Syria, Nigeria and Guatemala. At the same time, activists campaigning against local environmental destruction, for instance due to mining or hydropower projects, face increasing threats of violence. During the past decade, the NGO Global Witness recorded more than 1,700 confirmed murders of such environmental defenders, with Brazil, Colombia and the Philippines being the most dangerous places for activists.